Integrated circuits (ICs) are manufactured by patterning and forming device structures on substrates such as silicon wafers. A number of chips including one or more ICs may be formed on a single wafer. The chips are then separated, packaged, and tested.
Manufacturing or other defects may cause a chip to perform differently than expected. Therefore, chips are generally tested prior to shipment to ensure that they meet performance specifications. A number of different test types may be used to test chip performance, including functional vector testing. In a functional vector test, the chip is in normal operating mode (e.g., the clock has a functional connection). Test vectors (test bit streams) are injected on one or more of the chip's input pins. Resulting output data from one or more output pins is captured, then compared to simulation data to determine whether the chip performs as required.